I know it is almost 3 weeks into the new year and I wish all, though belated, a happy 2013. Also it is the day before U.S. President Obama's swearing in as president for a second term (which is private ceremony), coupled with a public ceremony for noon Monday. It is known that I have marked political differences between the Obamas (sometimes albeit very fierce), I just want to make a non-partisan statement about Mrs. Obama's bangs: they look great! Makes her ever more beautiful!
During 2013, it is also my hope that in the United States, there will be a "Conservative Spring", an uprising against the current form of what conservatism which manifested in the belief of "unfettered markets" and "religious fundamentalism". A sane conservative manifesto is still strongly needed in which it supports "free markets" as opposed to big business. Yes, a capitalism for THE PEOPLE is a message what is needed. One person by the name of Tim Bray (a Google employee) who claims he is not from the right on the political spectrum, has developed a "sane conservative manifesto". Here's what he had to say in his piece "What Conservatives Are For":
I’m no right-winger but I’ve long felt that a healthy society needs sane progressives and sane conservatives, and that many of America’s difficulties are related to an absence of the latter. So here’s a proposed Sane-conservative manifesto, written from outside.
1. Be Cautious · Anyone who’s dealt with the public sector, or even paid close attention to the news, knows that many government programs don’t work very well. Some just fritter away energy and money to no particular effect, others turn actively harmful. ¶
It’s not that those launching them are malicious or stupid; it’s that people are complicated and, in the societal aggregate, insanely complicated. They will try to game the system, and also will do astonishing things for reasons that could not have been predicted.
So it’s sensible to be predisposed against launching new programs, and to err on the side of caution, because we know for a fact that lots of times it’s not going to work.
Thus, we need conservatives.
2. Don’t Kill the Goose · Only for-profit businesses create wealth. ¶
Government’s role is to lay the foundations for a free-as-possible market, regulated enough to create a climate of low-friction trust and deter theft; then to get out of the way.
The optimal balance in the level of regulation is hard to find, but it’s important to have a voice in the conversation repeatedly asking a single question: Will this screw up wealth creation?
Thus, we need conservatives.
3. Don’t Waste Money · If you take a quantitative approach to public policy (and you should) the data frequently show poor correlation between expenditures and outcomes. The nations that spend the most on healthcare are not necessarily the healthiest. Similarly, the volume of education funding correlates only weakly with measured results, and (in particular) defense spending regularly fails to defend citizens. ¶
I think most agree that waste is bad, and wasting money is particularly bad. Thus, every policy discussion needs to have someone there pointing out that throwing money at the problem might not work, and maybe a cheaper alternative will.
Thus, we need conservatives.
Less Relevant · I observe that many who self-identify as conservative express surprising opinions about the regulation of sexual behavior, the role of religion in civic life, the desirability of starting wars, and the conservation of planetary resources. ¶
These don’t seem to cohere intellectually in the same way that items #1 through #3 above do. It seems very unlikely to me that conservatives can build a lasting majority in any well-educated well-developed country around this other stuff; but they might, if they stuck to #1 through #3.
Interesting ideas on Mr.Bray's part. The original piece of his article can be linked here with the various comments to his piece. May his articles and many others to come inspire a sorely needed revolution in conservativism.
